Anil Kapoor says Kareena Kapoor ‘took a lot of money’ from him as she asks him about pay parity in Bollywood

Kareena Kapoor Khan invited Anil Kapoor on her chat show, ‘What Women Want’. As they went ahead of the chat, the two popular celebs discussed how male actors of Hollywood accept a project only if their female co-stars also get the same pay. Kareena casually asked Anil Kapoor if actors of Bollywood should also start with the same practice.

Later in the show, Kareena asked Anil Kapoor about the wage gap that persists in the Film Industry between male and female actors. Anil Kapoor very cleverly answered the question and left Kareena absolutely speechless.

“You toh took a lot of money from me,” Anil started with his answer, and Kareena was astonished. She said, “We are breaking barriers, we are doing that. But like you said, there are still some people…”

Anil then narrated an incident when the producers called him while the negotiations with Kareena were on for Veere Di Wedding: “’ Yaar, yeh toh hero se zyada paise maang rahi hai.’ Maine bola, ‘De do’ (She is demanding more money than the hero, and I said, ‘Give it to her).’ They all called me up also, I said, ‘Done.’ They were calling me when the negotiations were on. I said, ‘Bebo jo maangegi, de do (Give Kareena what she wants).’”

Anil Kapoor also mentioned that he would not mind if his female co-star would be paid more than him and also said that this has happened with him on several occasions. “There are so many films where the leading actress has taken more money and Maine Khushi khushi kiya (I did the films happily),” he said.

Kareena has starred with Anil in films such as Bewafaa and Tashan. They are set to come together for Karan Johar’s ambitious period drama, Takht, which also stars Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, and Bhumi Pednekar.

Takht was supposed to begin shooting in Europe last March but got indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The film is set in the Mughal era and will revolve around the relationship between emperor Aurangzeb and his brother Dara Shikoh.